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The
Guardian (UK): Letters: Humanity wins out: “It's a wonderful testament to the
human spirit to see the millions that the public are donating. It's also good to
see that governments are doing their bit. But how much are corporations
donating? Companies such as Shell, Microsoft, General Motors and Wal-Mart are
richer than many nations and much of their profits are made by the cheap labour
of the people in the affected countries.” (ShellNews.net) 1 Jan 05

Saturday January 1, 2005

Many Americans understand that the new
global sport called "Bashing America" is very fashionable (UK leads aid drive,
December 31). However, when it comes to humanitarian aid, the US pays far more
than its fair share.

In 2004, the US contributed 40% of aid
relief for the world's emergencies. According to the OECD, the US spends about
0.14% of GDP on foreign aid, but that excludes private donations. In 2000, for
instance, Americans privately contributed $33bn, far more than the $10bn in
government aid.

In 2003, the US contributed $24bn to
emergency relief and Colin Powell expects US aid to the tsunami victims to
eventually exceed $1bn. In 2004, the US gave over $826m to the UN's world food
programme. The European Union gave only $100m - and the EU has a larger
population and slightly larger GDP.

In the meantime, the US taxpayer
bankrolls a defence system that protects people around the world. The countries
hit by the tsunami have large Muslim populations; let's see how much their
Muslim brothers in the Middle East contribute to their relief.

BJ Sullivan

San Francisco

You haven't given credit to India. The
Indian government has conveyed to the international community that it doesn't
require assistance and has sent its ships and supplies to help Sri Lanka and the
Maldives, and pledged $27m to help those countries.

Suresh Lalvani

London

The world's wave of compassion will help
countries like Thailand recover from this terrible natural disaster. But such
countries often suffer predatory international currency speculation which
destabilises economies and creates huge unemployment. A small international tax
on currency transactions would help reduce this $1 trillion-a-day trade and
raise billions for development and environmental protection. The immediate
priority is tackling this natural disaster, but political leaders should think
the unthinkable so that man-made disasters can also be tackled.

Harry Barnes MP

Lab, NE Derbyshire

Excellent that the people should have
shamed their timid government into coughing up a bit more. But will this have
shaken the Blairites sufficiently to allow them to spot a rare opportunity to do
something now that would look almost bold? At a stroke, they could break a
shameful and dangerous political taboo by raising income tax by an hypothecated
1% or 2%, initially to fund rebuilding work. This tax would then be continued,
partly as a reserve fund for similar contingencies and partly to increase our
contribution to essential infrastructure improvements in the developing world.

WL Webb

London

*It's a wonderful testament to the human
spirit to see the millions that the public are donating. It's also good to see
that governments are doing their bit. But how much are corporations donating?
Companies such as Shell, Microsoft, General Motors and Wal-Mart are richer than
many nations and much of their profits are made by the cheap labour of the
people in the affected countries.

Julian Gibson

London

All banks should ask callers if they
wish to donate. Most customer contact with banks is through call centres, so the
option of making a donation could be prompted during the initial recorded
message.

Gez Sagar

London

The heart-rending scenes we have seen
have come at the end of a year of terrible war and suffering around the world.
It has, however, reminded us about the capacity of humans to respond with
humanity towards each other. It is to be hoped that the government will follow
the lead of Sweden in declaring a day of mourning as soon as possible.